Days of Wine and Roses
by Yugao
Summary: Lee and Anna share a blissful summer, but was it just a fling for both of them?


**_Days of Wine and Roses_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Summary: _**Lee and Anna share a blissful summer, but was it just a fling for the both of them?

**_Author's Note: _**Okay, maybe Lee-Anna isn't really the best couple in all of Tekken (though they're a shoo-in for the prettiest), but it's interesting to doodle on different characters… By the way, to the author _wine and roses, _I didn't steal the title from your penname. I took it from a Frank Sinatra song (okay, some things are better left unexplained). Rated T for… implications.

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Tekken or any of its characters. And I definitely don't own Frank Sinatra's song.

* * *

"Good morning, Anna." 

Her blue eyes fluttered open to see him lying there beside her, a contented smile on his face and a glimmer on his silver hair. The soft dawn light spilled in from the window behind the bed, blanketing both of them. The scent of red wine hung in the air.

She smiled. It wasn't often that her smile was sincere, but she knew that at that moment it was. "Good morning, Lee," she answered softly.

Anna turned over in bed, shifted ever so slightly to check her watch, which lay on her bedside table. It was early, only a few minutes past six. The sun had risen early with a purpose – to remind both of them exactly what day it was.

She sat up, tucking a stray strand of reddish brown hair behind her ear. Carefully, almost protectively, she held the sheet close to her, as if suddenly insecure. She leaned against the headboard, knowing that all the while Lee's eyes were on her.

"Something's bothering you," he observed, his fingers tracing the length of her pale, slender arm. "Tell me."

She sighed in reply. "It's September first," she said quietly.

It was two months to the day that they had met again, after several years of separation. She could remember that day clearly, when she had been so unceremoniously defeated by her own sister – the same day when he, too, was defeated by his brother Kazuya, who earned the right to continue competing in the Iron Fist Tournament 5.

_They were a sight to see. Anna Williams, usually so calm and cool, now seething with outright rage. Lee Chaolan, often so cheery, now strangely reticent._

_It was no surprise that their first meeting in years would be off to a bad start._

_He was distracted by his thoughts; she was blinded by her anger. He knocked her off her feet, only agitating her fury. "Bastard! Don't you ever watch where you're going?" she almost screamed._

"_I'm sorry." His apology didn't even have a twinge of annoyance at her tone. He helped her get up, and turned to leave. "I hope I don't bother you again."_

_She was curious enough to bite back some of her anger. "Lee?"_

_He froze, and turned to look at her. "Anna," he said tonelessly._

"_What's wrong?" she said, provoking him, "No, let me guess. Your brother kicked you out of the Tournament, and now you're giving up. You're such a failure."_

_He shrugged. "Big words, coming from someone who's in practically the same position. But then I suppose you were never competing with your sister. Not like you can, anyway." It was clear he was starting to get agitated, but his words only angered her more._

_And she backhanded him across the face, and then stormed off._

Anna blushed with slight embarrassment from the memory as she stood and walked to the bathroom. There was a ring of sparkling wine on top of the dresser, and some spilled onto the floor. She yawned sleepily.

The day after their encounter, Anna was surprised to receive a bouquet of luscious red roses. With the slender, long-stemmed blooms came a note, attached to the light pink crepe paper that held them. The note, written in simple white card, had read: _Forgive me for yesterday, Anna. I had not meant what I said, and I only wish to take back those words._

And he had signed it: _Lee_.

The same roses she'd pressed in between the pages of the voluminous phone book, and as the days of their blooming relationship passed, the flowers were preserved. They had lost some fragrance, and a little beauty with the fading of color, but they were no less significant.

The bathroom door creaked open, and she sighed. "I have to go back home, Lee. I can't stay in Tokyo forever under your wing."

He took her in his embrace from behind, whispering, "Only Nina – and death – awaits you back home. Stay here, Anna. Stay with me."

She closed her eyes, took in the scent of roses from her perfume, the scent of red wine in his breath, the intoxicating mixture of it all. Here, in Japan, she had a home – a home to return to with Lee. Here, someone cared for her well-being, showered her with luxury, love, everything that money could possibly buy – why had she ever considered going back home?

Home to Nina – her sister who had never, since childbirth, ever felt a twinge of compassion towards her?

A lone tear fell from the corner of her eye, and she whispered back, "Until next summer, Lee."

**_Author's Note: _**Okay, so this was intended to be a bit longer than this, but lack of time, ideas, and such are making me shorten it. Please review (don't you hate it when we say that?) …


End file.
